The Art of War and Chess

Wasn't that a Tolstoy book?

The book was written in 6th century b.c.    

What do you think Sun Tzu's rating would be back in 500 b.c.?

Rating at what ?     There was no chess "back in 500 b.c."

I got sick of hearing about The Art of War so have read it and I think you have to liberally extrapolate & apply the principles as you see fit.

So for example, he talks about imposing your will on your opponent and not letting your opponent impose his will on you. Well, extrapolate, or apply, that to chess, and an example could be you imposing your will on White by playing the 1...d5 Scandanavian vs 1. e4 for example (not the best Black variation I admit but serves as an easy example).  By playing 1.e4 e5 however, then you risk the Kings Gambit being played by White, which is them imposing their will on you. 

I hope that helps. I read it once, thought it had some relevance and went over it a 2nd time, this time taking notes and I think you could use it as a basis for a chess style - within which you can build your opening repertoires and carry out the general conduct of the game. 

One of those books left somewhat open to reader interpretation and you take from it what you wish.